Licensing

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Licensing

Where OSGeo Holds Copyright

In the case where OSGeo holds the copyright to the source code for a project, the OSGeo board makes the final decision on how the code should be licensed for distribution. The source code for all member projects must be distributed under an OSI approved license (according to the incubation evaluation criteria).

Relicensing

If the Project Steering Committee (PSC) for a project decides they would like to have the code distributed with a different license, the PSC follows the process below:

  1. The PSC votes on a motion to change the license.
  2. If the motion passes, the PSC representative directs the license update on behalf of the foundation.

The PSC representative is an officer of the foundation and can make licensing decisions on behalf of the foundation.

Where OSGeo Does Not Hold Copyright

Following the incubation criteria, all member projects must distribute any source code under an OSI approved license. The project's status as an OSGeo member project depends on the copyright holder continuing to distribute the code under an OSI approved license.